Support for a People's Vote on Brexit surges as UK heads closer to a no-deal Brexit

Adam Payne,

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Published
7:01 pm EDT, Thursday, August 9, 2018

Public support for a second Brexit referendum continues to grow amid fears over possible no deal Brexit.

45% of people support a People's Vote on the final deal, while 34% do not, according to a YouGov poll of over 10,000 people.

The UK would vote to stay in the European Union by 53% to 47% if asked again.

Most Brits believe Theresa May will leave negotiations with a bad deal.

LONDON — A comprehensive new poll has found support for a referendum on the final Brexit deal has surged amid growing concern over the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union without a deal.

45% of people now believe there should be a referendum on the final Brexit deal, or what campaigners call a People's Vote, while just 34% do not, according to findings of a YouGov poll published on Friday.

This compares to December last year when just 33% were in favour of a second referendum, with 42% opposed.

The poll also found a majority of voters would now back staying in the EU with 53% of people saying they would vote to stay and 47% would vote to Leave.

This support would increases significantly if May fails to secure a deal. In that scenario the poll finds that 56% would vote to stay and 44% would vote to leave.

YouGovThis latest poll — one of the biggest surveys of public opinion since the 2016 referendum — comes as Prime Minister May and UK negotiators prepare to resume Brexit negotiations with their EU counterparts later this month.

Unless both sides reach an agreement on the Irish border, the UK faces crashing out with no deal in March 2019, which government analysis says would hit UK GDP by 8% and could cause shortages in food and medicine.

In the event of Brexit talks collapsing and failing to produce an agreement, 50% of people said the public should decide whether to stay in the EU or go ahead with Brexit, while 25% said Parliament should have the final say.

In what will make grim reading for May's government, 68% of people think May will leave Brexit talks with a bad deal, while just 13% disagree. 73% agreed that "many promises made by [the] Leave campaign will be broken."

Reacting to the YouGov findings, Chuka Umunna, Labour MP and leading supporter of the People's Vote campaign, said: "Whether people voted leave or remain two years ago, nobody voted for this chaotic Brexit that will damage our living standards and public services which is being thrust on the country by politicians in Westminster.

"It is now clear that the people are starting to find their voice and they demand a vote on the final Brexit deal as the only way out of this mess."

REUTERS/Simon Dawson

Brexit pressure on Corbyn rising

The survey also found that a clear majority of Labour voters want a referendum on the final Brexit deal as leader Jeremy Corbyn comes under increasing pressure to soften his Brexit position. 63% of respondents who support Labour want a People's Vote on the final deal, while just 18% do not.

"The Labour Party must now do what its members and supporters and voters are crying out for: put clear red water between the Opposition and the Government, and provide leadership to the country by backing the People’s Vote campaign," Umunna said.